Customer Reviews

Now You See Her

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NOW YOU SEE HER is an amazingly realistic look into the life of a self-centered girl who has been showered with attention from her parents all of her life. Bernadette, or Hope, her stage name, dreams of being a famous actress--and she is willing to do anything to get to the top. Her mother has always pushed her so hard, and now her mother's dreams for Hope are her own. Hope knows she's the best and explains that her lack of friends is simply because everyone is jealous of her talent. At fourteen, she is accepted into Starwood Academy, a prestigious acting school in Michigan. Hope is sure that this is where her career will take off, and she doesn't mind in the least that she is a bit of an outcast. After all, she has Logan. Logan Rose. The most amazing boy she has ever met. Hope finds herself lost in her infatuation with Logan. Everything in her life revolves around their budding romance.

The two of them formulate a plan, a plan to elope when Logan graduates. Their plan requires one thing, money, which they plan to extract from Hope's parents by faking her abduction. Faking a kidnapping is risky business, but Hope is willing to do anything for Logan, anything for their future together. Hope dreams of the day when the two of them will be winning Academy Awards together, the perfect couple.

Hope's story is told through her own eyes, and I felt every emotion with her. I felt the pride in her triumphs as well as the pain of feeling lost and confused, like you are the only one who knows the truth. But it is only at the end, when the real truth is finally revealed, that you realize that Hope Shay is not all that she appears to be.

Reviewed by: Amber Gibson

A friend recommended this book to me after reading it and I couldn't have disagreed more with this choice. SPOILERS******** I found the narrator to be thoroughly unlikable. Very soon into reading it, I realized that half of what was going on was a delusion. I said to my friend, Hope is psycho affective or in some delusional state- this isn't really happening. A few twists "got me" but even they were disappointing. Mainly, I was stunned by the diagnosis of "borderline personality disorder". The only accuracy to this was that there is no medication that can treat that disorder, however those suffering from BPD do not make up people or situations; the closest resemblance to this is by saying that they tend to misconstrue social situations and are plagued by obsessive and/or negative thoughts. Truly, BPD is most closely linked to a form of manic depression and sufferers experience mixed episodes and rapid mood swings. It is a MOOD disorder, a PERSONALITY disorder. Hope suffers from fugue states, hallucinations, and psychosis. She is psychotic, bordering on schizophrenic. As they say in Seinfeld, not that there's anything wrong with that, but let's call a spade a spade and a psychotic a psychotic. I don't understand why there are so many positive reviews for this; I can't recall the last time I felt I had so thoroughly wasted my time reading a book. In the end, Hope doesn't seem any better off than when she began and I found her to be an incredibly unsympathetic character. I would not recommend this book at all. Save yourself some time and read Girl, Interrupted instead.

Now You See Her, written by Jacquelyn Mitchard, is the tragic story of Hope Shay. Hope is an incredibly commited actor, and always was. The older she became the more she pushed herself. She lived life upon the stage, and off the stage she didn't have one. Hope trained her to be the best, and she was. She was talented, and she and her mother knew it. Once off at new school for teens like herself- the kind that are destined for fame; Hope is pushed too far, too hard, too long. And when a teen is pushed farther than they can go.... it can end painfully. Mitchard does a wonderful job of writing as a fifteen year old.

Expecting this to be a book I would want my teenage grandchild to read, I went into it thinking it would be fun, light and somewhat less than captivating. I was dead wrong. Took me about two days with a very busy schedule to finish because I was so committed to finding out about the true Hope Shay (Bernadette). Whole range of opinions from disgust to sympathy. Great good!!

To Hope Shay (real name: Bernadette Romano, which just won't cut it in Hollywood), Romeo and Juliet is more than just a school production. It's life. Only a sophomore, Hope has scored the part of Juliet, a role that makes her the envy of all the upperclassmen. And why shouldn't she be envied? She has a special talent for acting, a way to make characters come to life. Her talent is what got her into the famed Starwood Academy, a prep school for fine arts students, and it's what makes a film actor named Logan Rose fall in love with her.

Hope's mother calls it The Gift. The Gift is what gets Hope the lead in a production of Annie and some spots in TV commercials. It makes Hope different from other kids --- more mature, more ambitious --- but a side effect of this difference is that she has no friends. At Starwood, she believes, people will be more like her. Instead of thinking she's stuck-up for having an agent, they'll admire her and talk acting with her. Or so she hopes.

What a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive.

Life imitates art as Hope tells a story of falling in love with her (onstage and real-life) Romeo, Logan. They have to keep their romance a secret for many reasons, so Hope becomes consumed with their clandestine meetings. Together, they make what Hope calls The Plan. They'll move to L.A. or New York, waiting tables and auditioning for the roles that will make them stars, and then get married. The Plan, however, starts to crumble when Logan asks the question that engenders The Idea: "What would you say your parents think you're worth?"

The Idea is for Logan and Hope to fake Hope's kidnapping and get about $20,000 in ransom money from Hope's parents, enough for them to start on The Plan. Logan will "find" Hope and be considered a hero. But when Hope goes through with The Plan, staging her own kidnapping without Logan, we begin to see that all is not right in Hope's mind. Is she really in love with Logan, or is it more an unrequited obsession? Where do her lies begin and end?

Hope's journal is a passionate, frightening look at the destructive power of mental illness. In her story, she is both the heroine and the victim, while everyone else is the villain. Since we readers only see Hope's side of the story, we are led to believe that Hope is the stage star with the perfect boyfriend --- the person she not only wants to be, but would like everyone else to believe she already is. As in Chris Lynch's INEXCUSABLE and Gail Giles's DEAD GIRLS DON'T WRITE LETTERS, we have no choice but to follow an unreliable narrator down a path of deceit, confusion and, ultimately, the bitter truth.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

It has been a few years since I was last in high school. When I saw this book by my favorite author, I knew I wanted to read it, but I was hesitant to pick it up because it was written for teens. I am so glad I got over that quickly, though.

I have come to realize that many adults find that high school is just a hazy, distant memory, and they like it that way. I understand the disconnect that many high school students feel, thinking that everyone else has friends but they are all alone. It was painfully obvious that there was something more going on with Hope, almost from the start of this book. It definitely seemed like more than just teenage angst, but I could never quite put my finger on what the problem was. I was so surprised by the ending that I had to reread just to make sure I did not miss something.

That is the amazing thing about Jacquelyn Mitchard's writing - you are kept in suspense all the way through, but you never quite realize that is what is happening until the "surprise" is exposed. I believe maintaining the suspense in such a way that the reader is taken by surprise to learn that there is a surprise is the mark of an extremely gifted story teller, and Jacquelyn Mitchard has mastered that craft.

You will not be disappointed by this book.

What if everything that was part of a "normal" adolescence - parental conflict, cliques in school, crushes, lack of self-esteem, fantasizing about becoming famous, loneliness - was magnified 1000 times? There is a very fine line between being IN control and LOSING control, and "Now You See Her" tells a story that's a perfect example of a young actress who loses control of her life.

Hope Shay seems to have it all, but no one, least of all her parents, has a clue as to what's going on inside her head. And because she is really battling her problems alone, and speaking directly to you, the reader, you are immediately drawn into the tale. You'll dislike her, you'll pity her, you'll commiserate with her. At first glance, none of these characters are very likeable, or easy to feel sympathy for, yet, as you read further, you will find yourself caught in an ever darkening, swirling vortex, and realize there is nothing Hope can do, until she crashes and burns.

Hope tries to act the part for her overbearing mother, wearing face cream to bed and always aware of who might be looking at her. When the pressures of school, rehearsals, appearances, and expectations clash together, she is overwhelmed, and starts her spiral into a black hole. Ms. Mitchard writes in a way that makes us want to keep reading. All of her characters are realistic, and quite possibly live next door to you - maybe even in your own home. Something isn't quite right, but you can't quite put your finger on it, until it is too late for Hope, and her secrets are revealed. I was reminded of Shirley Jackson's "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" because such a melancholy story can still urge you to keep reading on.

This is a book that should be read by parents AND teens, and then discussed and examined. It is a sad story with an uplifting ending, and Hope's final outcome will hopefully be the same for the strange, pathetic case of a certain pop singer so prominent today. There is much throughout the book to talk about and relate to, and ultimately take HOPE from.

I received my book and read it the same day. It's an amazing experience to step into someone else's mind and a little disorienting. If you're accustomed to reading 3rd person voice, you might find it difficult to adjust to the 1st person voice of this YA novel, but do it! Take the time. Wrap your head around the possibilities....even if you have to put it down and start again (which I admit, I had to do, but it was only a short break). It's worth it. Jacquelyn Mitchard invites the reader to become Bernadette (a/k/a Hope Shay) by her use of voice. The voice sometimes takes a tangent, but who of us don't when we listen to our own voice inside. It has meaning and it works! Stepping inside the mind of Hope Shay will take you on a journey that is personal, insightful, heartbreaking and eventually, full of Hope. Nicely done!

I really enjoy Jacquelyn's writing style. This book was quick to read and kept me wondering how it would end. Very thought provoking especially in this situation. Is it really that important to be the "center of attention" constantly? Can it harm you? Find out what "Hope" the main character, feels in this story. You won't be disappointed!!!

This book starts to get good about halfway through. To be honest, if I had not read all the glowing reviews and bought the hardback book, I probably would not have finished it.